Minelaying submarine



Feb. 13, 1968 s. A. HUMPHREY 3,368,510

MINELAYING SUBMARINE Filed 001:. 1, 1964 A F! L T I 1 2 O: 58 N a as: f" 2% LJ Q 2% 5 E Samuel A. Humphrey.

INVENTOR.

mmm

AGENT United States Patent M 3,368,510 MINELAYING SUBMARENE Samuel A. Humphrey, Silver Spring, Md., assignor to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy Filed Oct. 1, 1964, Ser. No. 402,061 2 Claims. (Cl. 114-16) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

This invention relates to the laying of mines and more particularly to the modification of existing submarines to permit them to engage in minelaying activities while submerged.

Minelaying with present day submarines is limited to the relatively small number of mines that can be carried in the torpedo tubes and stowage racks within the submarine. Accordingly, present day submarines have not proven to be altogether satisfactory for minelaying operations since the area which they might cover is severely restricted due to the small number of weapons which can be carried by any one vehicle. In addition to this drawback presented by the limited quantity of mines that can be carried, the use of present day submarines for laying mines is opposed by many naval tacticians because of the defensive problem which is incurred and for this reason it has further proven to be undesirable because of the morale problem arising therefrom. Stated otherwise, submarine crew members do not like to be sent on mining missions because there is usually no room left on board the vehicle for defensive weapons such as torpedoes and submarine rockets.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide means for overnight denying a huge ocean area to enemy submarines, surreptitiously, while using only one delivery vehicle.

Another object of this invention is to provide means for laying mines with existing submarines which will tremendously increase the minelaying capabilities thereof at a very nominal cost.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a submarine with means for carrying large quantities of mines while maintaining the submarines normal maneuverability and trim, both on the surface of the water and while submerged.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide means for carrying large quantities of mines on existing submarines without interfering with the submarines normal attack capability.

The foregoing objects of the invention, and other objects which will become apparent. as the description proceeds, are achieved by attaching two giant pods to the sides of the submarine in such a way as to be quickly connected or disconnected, each of which pods might contain hundreds of mines. Ballast tanks, not shown but connected by suitable conduits to a control system therefor within the submarine, are provided within the pods for maintaining the trim of the pods and hence assist in maintaining the trim of the submarine while mines are being dropped and for neutralizing the submerged weight of the loaded pods. Thus the pods, fully loaded, may be floated up to and attached to the submarine very rapidly, and in the event that it should become necessary, it is also possible for the submarine to discard the pods after being underway. This type of external modification of the submarine obviates tying up facilities within the submarine normally utilized for offensive weapons, thereby leaving the torpedo room and the torpedo tubes available for the storage and use of attack weapons and thereby Patented Feb. 13, M368 greatly increasing the firepower of present day submarines without adversely affecting their present weaponry capability.

For a better understanding of the exact nature of the invention, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view partly broken away to show certain interior features of the detachable pods; and

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic front elevation view showing one of the pods in the open position and further indirecting operation thereof to release a mine therefrom.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the several figures, there is shown in FIG. 1 a submarine generally indicated at 10 having a pair of large teardrop-shaped pods 12 and 12' supported on fairings 14 and 14, respectively, and attached thereby to the sides of the submarine hull 16. Attachment of the pods to the submarine may be accomplished by utilization of a pair of reinforcing mounting plates 18 and 18' therefor. In addition to the ability to withstand the hydrodynamic loads on the pods, the mounting plate structures 18 and 18 incorporate suitable pneumatic and electrical connections, respectively, and not shown, but of a character well known in the hydraulic, pneumatic and electrical connector arts respectively to provide hydraulic fluid, air and electrical communication from the interior of the submarine to buoyancy tanks 22 and bomb type mine racks 28 within the pods. These may be added to the sides of the hull as a conversion adaptation. A typical electrical connector of a character permitting release actuation upon the application of an axial movement of a predetermined magnitude is shown in the inventors US. Patent 2,735,993. It is considered to be within the skill of practitioners in this art to apply the teachings of this patent to the pneumatic check and hydraulic quick connector incorporated in the instant apparatus. Additionally, if desired, a combination umbelical type cable and connector may be used if desired.

Each of the pods is provided with bomb type mine release racks 28 for storing mines 20 in the central portion thereof and a pair of buoyancy tanks 22 in the forward and aft sections thereof, as aforedescribed, for maintaining the submarines trim while the mines are being dropped and for neutralizing the submerged weight of the pod. For this purpose a valve (not shown) but advantageously controlled from within the submarine is provided in each pod and connected through supply lines as indicated in FIG. 1, for admitting water to the buoyancy tanks 22, and similarly for expelling water therefrom upon the application of air under pressure through the pneumatic supply lines extending through the fairings to the pod structures. A pair of loading doors 24 are provided in the upper side of the pods and a pair of release doors 26 are provided in the bottom side thereof, directly beneath the loading doors, as shown in FIG. 2.

It is anticipated that these pods may advantageously accommodate and launch more than a hundred mines each. Although the mines 20 are shown in FIG. 1 as being stacked vertically in the bomb type mine racks, it is obvious that in the alternative they may be stacked and launched from suitable rack structure in which the mines are initially disposed in a horizontal relationship.

As previously mentioned, the pods are attached to the sides of the submarine by any suitable means facilitating quick connection or disconnection. Suitable connections for this purpose are well known and commercially available. Accordingly the details thereof form no part of the instant inventive concept. In this manner, both the pods 12, 12' and the fairings 14, 14' are detachable at the interface with the special mounting plates 18, 18', thereby leaving a hydrodynamically clean submarine skin structure.

Inside the submarine 10, in addition to the required plumbing and wiring modifications, it is advantageous to provide a small console, not shown, but of a conventional nature for control of the bomb racks and the buoyancy tanks, and the pod connection means as well.

In the overall technique of operation of apparatus embodying the inventive concepts of the instant invention, a submarine is modified by adding a pair of mounting plates to the submarine hull for the support and electrical and pneumatic coupling of a pair of pods to the submarine. These mounting plates are located along the external skin of the hull of the submarine, are securedly attached thereto in any conventional manner to thereby provide a releasable attaching means for the pods.

The mounting plates, as heretofore mentioned, incorporate pneumatic and electrical connectors for coupling internally controlled electrical and pneumatic energy sources within the submarine to buoyancy tanks and mine release racks within the pods, as well as the mine release doors. The operation of pneumatically controlled buoyancy tanks to maintain the trim of a submergible vehicle via a suitable control system is felt to be so old and well known in the underwater vehicle art as to necessitate no further explanation. Moreover, since detachable mounting techniques (i.e., explosive bolts) are equally well known, it is not felt that any amplification of such conventional techniques is required.

While the submarine is surfaced, the pods are floated on the surface and, under the effect of the buoyancy tanks, are manuevered into position in any desired manner for releasable attachment to the mounting plates. Following connection of the above mentioned connectors, a suitable check is made of all connections with the various energy sources within the submarine. The pods themselves may be preloaded or loaded after attachment to the submarine while the vessel is surfaced; in either event, loading is facilitated via the loading doors disposed in the upper surface of the pod.

After the submarine is underway in the desired mining area, the lower portion or mine bay doors are opened by any conventional means, thus enabling the release of the mines from the pods. The release of the mines, as well as the opening of the mine bay doors, may be controlled in any conventional manner by suitable means located within the submarine.

On the occurrence of release of one or more of the mines from either or both of the pods, the control system functions to correct and re-establish the pre-existing conditions as to relative buoyancy and trim of the pods and submarine. In this regard it is within the scope of the techniques of operation of a system of the instant character to provide automatic sensing with concurrently programmed response control to automatically maintain any desired operational condition related to but not necessarily exclusive to release of the mines from the pods.

It is considered that the techniques relating to the altering of ballast conditions are so well known in the submarine art as to obviate any further amplification con- 4 cerning the manner of practice of such techniques with respect to the pod structures of this invention.

It is readily apparent from the foregoing that a novel apparatus for increasing the effectiveness of minelaying operations with submarines has been provided, making it possible for a single submarine to carry enough mines to mine a predetermined harbor or a large ocean area, yet leaving the torpedo room available for torpedoes and other missiles so that the submarine may defend itself or perform other missions.

Although the foregoing disclosure relates to only a preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be understood that various modifications or alterations may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. Having thus described the invention, what is claimed 1. In a marine mine deploying system for utilization with a submarine, the combination comprising:

mounting plate means fixedly attachable to a submarine hull; at least one hydrodynamically streamlined pod adaptable for initially storing and subsequently deploying a plurality of mines;

mine holding and releasing means disposed within each pod for providing an outboard capability for carrying and laying a plurality of mines; fairing means fixedly attachable to each pod and releasably attachable to said mounting plate means so as to provide cantilever support of each pod from a submarine;

ballast tank means disposed in the forward and aft sections of each pod for controlling the buoyancy and trim of each pod; and

pneumatic supply line means connected at one end thereof to said ballast tank means to provide variation in the ballast tank means,

whereby suitable control of said ballast tank means will enable each pod to be initially attached via said mounting plate means and said fairing means to a submarine when the submarine is surfaced and to be subsequently detached from a submarine after having deployed in a submerged condition a plurality of mines.

2. The combination of claim 1 further comprising:

loading door means disposed in said pod for enabling the expeditious placing of a plurality of mines therein; and

release door means disposed in said pod for enabling the expeditious deploying of a plurality of mines therefrom.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,683,177 9/1928 Fenaux ll4l7 1,777,416 10/1930 Pratt ll4l7 2,329,736 9/1943 Wise ll4238 X 2,380,220 2/1945 Cortese ll4l6 MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner.

T. M. BLIX, Assistant Examiner, 

1. IN A MARINE MINE DEPLOYING SYSTEM FOR UTILIZATION WITH A SUBMARINE, THE COMBINATION COMPRISING: MOUNTING PLATE MEANS FIXEDLY ATTACHABLE TO A SUBMARINE HULL; AT LEAST ONE HYDRODYNAMICALLY STREAMLINED POD ADAPTABLE FOR INITIALLY STORING AND SUBSEQUENTLY DEPLOYING A PLURALITY OF MINES; MINE HOLDING AND RELEASING MEANS DISPOSED WITHIN EACH POD FOR PROVIDING AN OUTBOARD CAPABILITY FOR CARRYING AND LAYING A PLURALITY OF MINES; FAIRING MEANS FIXEDLY ATTACHABLE TO EACH POD AND RELEASABLY ATTACHABLE TO SAID MOUNTING PLATE MEANS SO AS TO PROVIDE CANTILEVER SUPPORT OF EACH POD FROM A SUBMARINE; 